OU Travels to Knoxville for Kick-Off Weekend

Jan. 27, 2012

No. 15 Oklahoma Men's Tennis
Sunday's Match	vs. No. 23 Ole Miss
Date & Time	Sunday, Jan. 29 at 9:00 a.m.
Monday's Match	vs. No. 24 Tennessee/ No. 53 Michigan State
Date & Time	Monday, Jan. 30 TBA
Location	Goodfriend Indoor Tennis Center
Internet	Live Scoring TBA

NORMAN, Okla. - The 15th-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis squad travels to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on No. 23 Mississippi in the first round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, hosted by the University of Tennessee.

"We are going to have our work cut out for us this weekend," John Roddick said. "I think Ole Miss is in a similar position to where we are in that both are moving up in the rankings and both have a lot of singles players that have done well. Ole Miss is a traditional top-10 program for going on 20 years. They are team that we have to be ready to play and we have to go out and execute. If we do that, then we will have a very good chance. It's going to be a heck of a match."

Also competing in the National Team Indoor qualifier is 24th-ranked Tennessee and No. 53 Michigan State. The two will battle following OU's match at 2 p.m.

RANKINGS RUNDOWN

The Sooners have five ranked in the initial ITA rankings and are led by junior Costin Paval who debuts as the nation's No. 4 ranked tennis player. Two more Sooners, Peerakit Siributwong (No. 38) and Tsvetan Mihov (No. 39), check in just inside the top 40. Newcomers Guillermo Alcorta and Dane Webb enter the rankings at No. 53 and 63, respectively, after a stellar fall campaign.

All three of Oklahoma's tandems are ranked. Leading the way is 14th-ranked Paval and Webb. Mihov and Siributwong are No. 38, and Alcorta and teammate Lawrence Formentera are No. 57.

Mississippi counters with two ranked singles players and are led by 27th-ranked Marcel Thiemann. Jonas Lutjen checks in at No. 98 for Ole Miss. In doubles, Lutjen and Johan Backstrom are ranked No. 17.

Tennessee has three ranked in the top 125, with all three individuals -- Peter Nagovnak (117), Hunter Reese (119) and Mikelis Libietis (125) -- checking in outside of the top 100. Tennessee has one ranked tandem in Libietis and Hunter Reese, ranked No. 33.

The Spartans have no ranked individuals.

Dual Match Records

Singles	1	2	3	4	5	6	Overall
1. Costin Paval (Jr.)	1-0						1-0
2. Guillermo Alcorta (RSo.)		1-0					1-0
3. Peerakit Siributwong (So.)			1-0				1-0
4. Tsvetan Mihov (So.)				1-0			1-0
5. David Pultr (Sr.)					1-0		1-0
6. Dane Webb (Fr.)						1-0	1-0
7. Lawrence Formentera (Jr.)

Doubles	1	2	3	Overall
1. Costin Paval/Dane Webb	1-0			1-0
2. Tsvetan Mihov/Peerakit Siributwong		1-0		1-0
3. Guillermo Alcorta/David Pultr			1-0	1-0

SOONER TENNIS NOTES

ALL-TIME SERIES RECORDS
The Sooners are 0-1 against Ole Miss with the last meeting coming in 1986. OU and Tennessee are split, 1-1, all-time, while Oklahoma holds a 3-0 advantage over the Spartans.

PULTR RETURNS TO OKLAHOMA
David Pultr was a member of OU's team that reached the Elite Eight in 2010. The Czech Republic native went 16-9 in singles action, with the majority of his matches coming at the No. 4 position. In doubles, he and Ionut Beleleu concluded the year with a 9-11 record.

MORE GEORGIA TIES
Bo Hodge was named the assistant coach at OU on Nov. 17, 2011. Prior to Oklahoma, Hodge served as the assistant at the University of Alabama for the past three seasons. A former star for the University of Georgia before pursuing a career on the professional circuit, Hodge earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communications at UGA where he returned to complete his studies after several years on the professional tour as a player and coach.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Travels to Knoxville for Kick-Off Weekend

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